Trudeau tops Poilievre for preferred prime minister, Nanos poll shows

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre greet each other as they gather in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sept. 15.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

Justin Trudeau is the preferred choice for prime minister compared with Pierre Poilievre, according to a new Nanos Research poll, though a significant portion of Canadians has nothing good to say about either leader.

If only Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Poilievre were on the ballot, 46 per cent of survey respondents said they would prefer the current Prime Minister, compared with 30 per cent who favoured the Conservative Leader. However, a sizable number of respondents, 19 per cent, didn’t want either to lead the country, and 5 per cent were unsure.

The survey can be summed up as a question of “not ‘who do I like,’ but ‘who do I dislike least,’” Nanos Research founder Nik Nanos said in an interview Sunday.

“Canadians are not enthusiastic about the two main choices on the political menu.”

Mr. Nanos said polling research shows the incumbent has the advantage in these types of survey questions, because they already have the job and are a better known commodity.

Mr. Trudeau far outpaced Mr. Poilievre in favourability among women, 52 per cent to 22 per cent. The two leaders were evenly split in preference among men, with 39 per cent favouring Mr. Trudeau, compared with 38 per cent for Mr. Poilievre.

The poll was conducted between Sept. 30 and Oct. 3, just three weeks after Mr. Poilievre won the Conservative leadership race in a landslide, first-ballot victory.

The win also made him Leader of the Official Opposition, and since taking up the new post, Mr. Poilievre has continued the attack-style politics for which he is known. In the House of Commons, he has hammered Mr. Trudeau on economic policy, most notably on inflation and the Liberal government’s deficit spending.

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His approach so far though hasn’t ingratiated him with voters. Asked to identify Mr. Poilievre’s positive attributes, four out of every 10 survey respondents (41 per cent) said they had nothing positive to say about Mr. Poilievre. Six per cent of respondents said he stands up for Canadians, the same portion said he is a good speaker and 5 per cent said he is intelligent. Another 5 per cent said they didn’t know him.

The most common response from participants asked to name Mr. Trudeau’s positive traits was also nothing. Three in 10 people (31 per cent) gave that response. A further 12 per cent of respondents commended his response to the pandemic, and the same percentage pointed to his social policies. Eight per cent said he represented Canada well internationally.

Respondents were asked an open question about the two leaders’ negative and positive attributes; similar responses were then compiled into different categories.

The most common response when asked to identify Mr. Trudeau’s negative traits was too much spending, which was identified as an issue by 16 per cent of respondents. Other negative attributes included being out of touch or untrustworthy, having ethical controversies and being arrogant. Eight per cent of respondents said they had nothing negative to say about Mr. Trudeau.

For Mr. Poilievre, the most frequently mentioned negative trait was that he is too right wing, a concern raised by 22 per cent of respondents. Others included his support for the trucker convoys, being divisive or abrasive, and being similar to former U.S. president Donald Trump. Thirteen per cent of respondents said they had nothing negative to say about Mr. Poilievre.

The poll also shows the Conservative Leader is vulnerable to attacks that he is right wing. That issue was underscored last week after a Global News report that came out after the Nanos survey was completed.

Mr. Poilievre came under fire for the story that his office tagged his YouTube videos with a hashtag that promoted his posts with people who followed the misogynist movement, Men Going Their Own Way. The group is made up of anti-feminists who attempt to cut women out of their lives.

Global News reported that the hidden tag was used in hundreds of videos dating back to 2018 but that it was removed after the news outlet asked Mr. Poilievre’s office for comment.

The Conservative Leader told the House of Commons that he “took responsibility and corrected” the issue as soon as he was made aware of the tags. However, he did not elaborate on what actions he took, and his office did not respond to questions from The Globe and Mail on Thursday.

Mr. Nanos said Mr. Poilievre’s response to the controversy so far is insufficient, and that he needs to make his views clear to Canadians.

“He has to deal with this so that it does not distract from his core message,” Mr. Nanos said.

The preferred prime minister question had 1,037 respondents, and the number of respondents for questions on the leaders’ positive and negative attributes ranged from 923 to 957 people. The hybrid poll was conducted by phone and online. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 to 3.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.